Whether or not that is true, his dismissal sends a strong message not only other college football players, but student-athletes around the nation; even a superstar is not above the rules, even one that helped his team get to the National Championship the previous season.. This certainly is a lesson that the Honey Badger has learned the hard way.

Regardless of what the true cause of it was, Mathieu's dismissal from the team definitely could have been avoided by using better judgement. Especially for a player of his caliber, and with as much popularity as he has gotten over the past season, the media will be all over your every move.

The Tigers are likely to go with redshirt freshman Jalen Collins, who was named the "Most Improved" player in the spring (per CBS Sports), to replace Mathieu. Whether or not Collins will make as much of an impact as Mathieu did is another story altogether, but, while the Tigers will miss the Honey Badger, they now have no choice but to move on without him..

Mathieu has two more seasons of eligibility, but will have to sit out a season if he transfers to another Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) school. Should he transfer to a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) school, Mathieu will immediately play. However, based on what has happened to troubled star players like Janoris Jenkins, Mathieu's future draft stock is likely to plummet.

No matter what his future holds, Mathieu has nobody to blame in this situation but himself. This hopefully will teach him a lesson, and lead him onto the right path, and help him make better decisions in the future.